MEET THE BAND: St. Paul and the Broken Bones, revisted

Friday

Jan 3, 2014 at 12:30 AM

For this last look back at 2013, Tusk re-introduces St. Paul and the Broken Bones, out of Birmingham, the skin-tight soul band that, despite having played Green Bar, the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater — opening for John Mayer — and the Bama Theatre — for Tuscaloosa Get-Up 2 with Alabama Shakes — are still causing some Tuscaloosa folks to ask “Who?”

By Mark Hughes CobbTusk Editor | The Tuscaloosa News

For this last look back at 2013, Tusk re-introduces St. Paul and the Broken Bones, out of Birmingham, the skin-tight soul band that, despite having played Green Bar, the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater — opening for John Mayer — and the Bama Theatre — for Tuscaloosa Get-Up 2 with Alabama Shakes — are still causing some Tuscaloosa folks to ask “Who?”Tuscaloosa's Ann Powers, the veteran music critic who's now a regular contributor to NPR, championed them early on. Tusk shared this back in February: “I found out about St. Paul and the Broken Bones from a friend who lives in Nashville, Jewly Hight,” Powers said. “I thought, 'Wow, this band has great chops and can play.' ”Powers included the band in a piece for NPR, “An Under-the-Radar Albums Preview for 2013.”“I wanted to include new bands, and they are very new. But for such a new band, they are already really accomplished,” she said.

No expectationsLongtime friends (lead singer Paul) Janeway and bassist Jesse Phillips started recording their first EP in a Homewood studio, having no expectations of such success as selling out shows in Birmingham and playing festivals like South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.“Our whole goal in music is to make a great record,” Janeway said. “Let's make a great album, and if no one ever hears it, then so be it. We will take it and we love it. It's anyone's dream to be able to make a living as a musician.”

Make the best and connect“Really, (our goal is) to make the best albums we possibly can and tour and connect with people in a really kind of authentic and real way,” Janeway said. “The shows are a range of emotions when people connect with the songs. It's really something magical when that happens for a band.”Then, back in July, we wrote again: Life seems to be cooking up success stew for Birmingham's Paul William Janeway and his band, St. Paul and The Broken Bones.He's an unlikely looking soul-belter, if you envision slicker guys like James Brown or Sam Cooke, the old-school crooners called to mind by his fervid wail. Janeway's hair is thinning, though his waistline is not. He wears suits and bow ties on stage. Some writers say he looks more like an accountant than a singer, which is close, considering he worked as a bank teller until March, when he became a St. Paul and The Broken Bones employee full time. He was also working on an accounting degree at UAB.“That was actually a decision I had to make in March. It was either keep working as a teller or go to South by Southwest, and luckily ...” he said, letting the thought finish itself. “It was a big risk ... but when you feel like things are right, you do it. It ended up being a great decision: We ended up getting a booking agent out of that. But it was scary.”Back in April, when St. Paul and The Broken Bones' ferocity blew the wispy Mayer off the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater stage: “... singer Paul Janeway, dressed like a '50s high-school history teacher on a date, belts old-school soul like a hellfire-and-brimstone preacher converted to rock 'n' roll. Should Janeway ever duet with the Shakes' Brittany Howard, the resulting fireworks could raise the dead and set them dancing.”

Keeping tuscaloosa in the mixDespite the band's growing reputation, and its move to larger venues, Janeway wants to keep Tuscaloosa in the mix.“I'm a namesake for Bear Bryant, so Tuscaloosa has a special place for me,” he said. His mom still tries to get the free Bryant T-shirt every fall at the University of Alabama's namesake reunion, he said.“We're kind of like that in Birmingham right now. One of our favorite places to play is the Bottletree, up here. It's a smaller club. I still think we're gonna potentially play there one last time, coming up.“That's a good problem to have,” he said, laughing. “But places like Tuscaloosa will always have a spot. I grew up going down there. It's a special place for me.”Remember when we told you about Alabama Shakes, while that band was still playing Egan's?Yeah.To find more about the band, including how to score its four-song EP “Greetings From St. Paul and the Broken Bones,” visit www.stpaulandthebrokenbones.bandcamp.com.

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